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Lions fears for George North as star injured in Ospreys win over Cardiff Blues

By PA
George North /Getty

Ospreys began their Rainbow Cup campaign with a bonus-point 36-14 victory over the Cardiff Blues at the Liberty Stadium.

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Two tries from Ifan Phillips and further scores from Keiran Williams, Matthew Aubrey, Sam Cross and Sam Parry along with six points from the boot of Josh Thomas got the Ospreys off to a winning start.

The win was, however, marred by concerns for George North, who limped off the field in the second half, casting doubt on his availability for the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

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Cardiff Blues scored two tries of their own courtesy of Max Llewellyn and Ellis Bevan, with Ben Thomas kicking four points.

Phillips opened the scoring for the Ospreys after eight minutes, with the hooker powering over from short range thanks to a well-worked driving line-out.

A sizzling break from left wing Matthew Protheroe from inside his own half sparked the hosts into life. But the attack came to nothing as Dan Evans was knocked into touch by Alun Lawrence.

Ospreys extended their lead after 31 minutes with inside centre Williams touching down. Cardiff second-row Ben Murphy charged down Aubrey’s box kick but wing Jason Harries failed to take the ball, with Protheroe pouncing before putting Williams.

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And Ospreys took a commanding 19-0 lead into the interval when Morgan Morris reacted quickly to Ben Thomas’ charged down kick, drawing his man to put Aubrey over with Josh Thomas again successful with the conversion.

Ospreys were dealt a blow in the early stages of the second half when Wales star George North was helped off the field after falling awkwardly, injuring his right knee.

Ospreys secured their bonus-point try after 48 minutes when Phillips smashed his way over the line from short range for his second score, with the home side’s pack bullying their Welsh rivals.

Cardiff were also reduced to 14 men with tighthead prop Keiron Assiratti sent to the sin-bin for illegally sacking a driving line-out.

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It took Cardiff 63 minutes to score their first points of the game and it came courtesy of inside centre Llewellyn, who hit a tremendous line to gallop in unopposed from 35 metres out.

But Ospreys hit straight back with a period of sustained pressure in Cardiff territory. After going through the phases a terrific offload from Josh Thomas put Cross over for their fifth try.

To their credit, Cardiff refused to throw in the towel and scored an impressive consolation try, with Llewellyn hit another gorgeous angle to put replacement scrum-half Bevan over.

But they ended the game with 14 men as Jason Harries was sent to the sin-bin for another driving line-out infringement, with Sam Parry crossing from short range for Ospreys’ sixth try.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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